gstreamer/docs/faq/troubleshooting.xml

<sect1 id="chapter-troubleshooting">
  <title id="title-troubleshooting">Troubleshooting GStreamer</title>
  <qandaset>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="troubleshooting-segfault">
        <para>
The GStreamer application I used stops with a segmentation fault.  What can
I do ?
        </para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
There are two things you can do.  If you compiled GStreamer with specific
optimization compilation flags, you should try recompiling GStreamer,
the application and the plug-ins without any optimization flags.  This allows
you to verify if the problem is due to optimization or due to bad code.
Second, it will also allow you to provide a reasonable backtrace in case
the segmentation fault still occurs.
        </para>
        <para>
The second thing you can do is look at the backtrace to get an idea of where
things are going wrong, or give us an idea of what is going wrong.
To provide a backtrace, you should
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
  run the application in gdb by starting it with
  <programlisting>
    gdb (gst-application)
  </programlisting>
  (If the application is in a source tree instead of installed on the system,
  you might want to put "libtool" before "gdb")
</listitem>
<listitem>
  Pass on the command line arguments to the application by typing
  <programlisting>
    set args (the arguments to the application)
  </programlisting>
  at the (gdb) prompt
</listitem>
<listitem>
  Type "run" at the (gdb) prompt and wait for the application to
  segfault.  The application will run a lot slower, however.
</listitem>
<listitem>
  After the segfault, type "bt" to get a backtrace.  This is a stack of
  function calls detailing the path from main () to where the code is
  currently at.
</listitem>
<listitem>
  If the application you're trying to debug contains threads, it is also
  useful to do
  <programlisting>
    info threads
  </programlisting>
  and get backtraces of all of the threads involved, by switching to
  a different thread using "thread (number)" and then again requesting
  a backtrace using "bt".
</listitem>
<listitem>
  <para>
  If you can't or don't want to work out the problem yourself, a copy and paste
  of all this information should be included in your 
  <link linkend="using-bugs-where">bug report</link>.
  </para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

    <qandaentry>
      <question id="troubleshooting-wiki">
        <para>
I'm having problems building or installing GStreamer. What should I do ?
        </para>
      </question>

      <answer>
        <para>
We've started a step-by-step 
<ulink url="http://gstreamer.net/wiki/?DichotomousKey">
troubleshooting guide</ulink>. 
Look there before asking, your problem might already have been solved by 
someone else.
        </para>
      </answer>
    </qandaentry>

  </qandaset>
</sect1>